


I Control My Destiny ~ by Sunka

by AngelBookofDaysModerator



Category: Angel: the Series
Genre: Angel Book of Days Challenge, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-02-22
Updated: 2004-02-22
Packaged: 2017-10-31 10:47:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/343213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngelBookofDaysModerator/pseuds/AngelBookofDaysModerator
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written by Sunka.  Posted on the author's behalf by the Angel Book of Days Moderator. David Nabbit needs help again.</p><p>Timeline ~ post Season 1</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Control My Destiny ~ by Sunka

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Fairfax](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Fairfax).



The glass rattles as he shuts the door behind him. David Nabbit walks away from Angel Investigations with false cheer. He runs his hand through his thinning hair and tries to shrug it off. He slumps toward his limo wondering why no one wants to spend time with him. His shoulders droop. He throws his cape over his shoulder, but it tumbles forward again. He straightens his back and throws the cape again. As soon as he sags forward again the cape falls forward. David grabs the edges and wraps it around himself like a blanket. Again he has misinterpreted the signals thrown out by people. Computers are safer - and much less reactionary. Gives his head a shake for thinking they might have liked him. Grabs the back of his neck in pain. He has managed to hurt his neck. He walk quickly to the safety of his limo.

"Where to, sir?" his driver asks.

"To the helipad. I need to get back to the office right away." David's foot catches the edge of his cape as he steps into the limo. He falls forward and hits his jaw on the edge of the seat.

"Very good, sir." The driver notices nothing. David untangles his arms from the shiny fabric of the cape, straightens himself out and sinks into the back seat. 

*****

He feels really fidgety tonight. Since he's bailed on the D&D game in the boardroom it's kind of tough to show up in mid-play. And with the lack of welcome from the Investigative team he has no other plans for tonight. Plans. The saving grace from a life of boredom. 

He paces up and down his palatial office. Stops briefly at a wall of electronics, touches a button among hundreds.

"You are somebody." A rich baritone voice booms out over the office. 

"I am somebody." David echoes. 

"You control your destiny." David throws out his chest and paces with more swagger. 

"I control my destiny." David trips on the pattern on his rug. 

"You are a wi.... You are a wi.... You are a wi.... " The CD skips as he picks himself up off the floor. Glances around to see if there are any witnesses to his graceless moment. He brushes off his shirt in front of the mirror, looks himself in the eye "I can do this".

David walks over to his desk, turns off the stereo with the replica Star Trek Tri-corder stereo remote. Then he aims the remote at his windows. A beautiful Hollywood snow starts to drift down past the view. He marvels at the perks of having money. 

"I can do anything. I can even make it snow in Los Angeles." He perches on the edge of his chair and picks up the phone. 

"Angel Investigations. We help the hopeless."

"Hi..." David hesitates

"Speak up, sir. I can't hear you? Are you hopeless?" Cordy rushes ahead. "That's it, isn't it? You're hopeless. Well, you called the right place. We can help."

"Ummm... This is David."

"David. Do I know you?"

"Nabbit. David Nabbit." This isn't going well at all.

"Oh. Yes," Cordy rushes on, "of course you are. Do you need a hand? I mean _another_ hand. I mean... What can we do for you?"

"Do you eat?" David giggles. "I mean, of course you eat." 

"Is this some kind of 'getting-some-tail-watching-a-woman-eat-D&D' thing? Cause last time - that got you in trouble."

Silence from David. "No. I meant..." He sighs and hunches into his chair "Just wanted to say thanks."

"You're welcome, Mr. Nabbit. Call us next time you're being blackmailed." Cordy realizes what she just said. "Not that you'd ever do something that would warrant being blackmailed. Again. I mean. Keep us in mind if you have more problems. Not that you would..." Cordy can't seem to keep the foot out of her mouth. "Bye then. Thanks for calling Angel Investigations."

"Okay. Thanks again." David puts the phone down and sits staring out the window but doesn't take in his million dollar view. 

*****

He stands in front of the bulletin board in the cafeteria, with his cloak wrapped around him. The breeze from the air conditioner is pretty chilly tonight. The microwave is humming softly behind him. The smell of popcorn starts to fill the empty room. David's finger travels over the posters on the bulletin board. Hard drive for sale. Babysitter needed. Will rent room over the garage, please call. Relive the search for the Arc. David's hand stops. He pulls the poster off the wall to take a better look. As he starts to read the details of the Raiders of the Lost Arc theme ride weekend he lifts himself up on the balls of his feet. 

One of his security personnel sees David read the poster and phones his 'boss'. "He took the bait".

The picture on the poster is a photo of last year's group sitting around a campfire. A very realistic picture since David can almost smell the smoke. Smoke. 

"Shit," he mumbles as he makes a dash for the microwave billowing smoke. 

*****

"Mr. Nabbit, sir. Welcome." The actor in full Raider's regalia reaches out a hand to David.

"Thank you," David says. "Great hat. Is that the original from the movie?"

The actor smiles. "Nope. This one gets replaced every two months. The show is pretty hard on our costumes." David puts his hands in his pockets and starts to squirm a bit. "My names Frank, by the way."

"Hey."

"So you're a fan of the movie then?"

"Oh yeah," David gushes, on safe ground once more. "I must have seen the movie more than twenty times. I may even have seen it more times than Star Wars. I even took lessons on how to handle the bullwhip."

"Oh, yeah?" Frank beams and hands David his bullwhip. "Let's see how you get on with this one."

David grabs the whip and starts to puff up his chest as he lets the whip unfurl along the ground. He flicks it a bit to get the last tangle to unwind and manages to snare his own foot. "Never did master it, but it sure was fun trying to learn."

Frank quickly retrieves the whip from David. "I think the insurance company would tear me a new one if they found out I'd let someone use my props. You understand?"

"Yeah. Yeah. Sure."

"Since you hired the ride for the whole day why don't we start by giving you a tour of the magic behind the scenes?" Frank starts to move David towards the employee entrance.

"Really? I get to go backstage?" David's grin is about to split his face.

*****

David crouches in the hallway leading into the tomb that hold the golden artifacts. He weighs the bag of sand in his hand. He looks around nervously. Frank is standing up the hallway a bit to give him the queue. They've rehearsed this all morning. This time the full special effects would come into play. As soon as they finish this Frank has promised hamburgers at the commissary. Frank gives the signal and David runs onto the stage. 

There is the altar. Beautifully lit. Just like in the movie. He runs toward it and the ground starts to shake. 

"Hey! You started too soon!" David screams. 

The earthquake effect wasn't supposed to start until after he'd placed his bag of sand on the altar. The crashing of the sound system is drowning out his voice. The rumbling is getting louder. David looks around and sees that the stone has been released much too early. 

"Wait! I'm not in position." David drops the bag of sand and sprints back toward the hallway. A giant beam falls from the rigging and blocks his path. He looks around frantically. He sees Frank gesturing frantically for him to run. So he does. He goes straight along the track that is supposed to guide the boulder. The whole stage is shaking and twisting under the force of the rolling boulder. He runs toward the stage lights at the end of the track. The rumbling is getting louder and louder. He slips and almost misses his footing. He catches himself and starts to feel the air at his back pushing him with great urgency. As the boulder bears down on him he throws himself down on the ground and rolls himself to the edge of the track. He makes himself as small as he possibly can - hoping it will be enough. David shuts his eyes as the wind from the boulder caresses his body. He hears footsteps running toward him.

"David! Are you with us?" Frank's voice shakes as he starts to check David for injuries. "Christ! What the fuck happened?" The rest of the special effect team converge on David to see what happened.

"Hi. Yup. I'm ok," David says between breaths. 

*****

"This is David Nabbit."

"Yes, sir." a smooth southern drawl calms David immediately. "We are already on the job."

"I haven't told you what happened yet."

"Well, sir. Our psychics saw the whole thing, but my office was unable to get in touch with you in time."

"Oh." David sits deeper into the backseat of his limo. "Do you know who is responsible? There was that merger that we just finished and you know how angry the little guys can get sometimes."

"I will personally be overseeing the team that is investigating this. I have already dispatched a team to your head office to begin an investigation."

David starts to chew on his fingernails. "Why do people hate me?"

"People don't hate you. They admire you. They are envious of your great success." Lindsey starts to lower his voice so it purrs with warmth and safety. "I'll personally guarantee that Wolfram & Hart will figure this out for you."

"Oh. Thanks, Lindsey." David lets out his breath. "I'm starting to feel a bit better." 

"I'll take care of this for you. I'll be in touch when I have something definitive."

*****

The Arctic sun is blindingly bright. David and his vice-presidents are bundled up in androgynous subzero gear, waiting for their turn at to tee off. Golf in the Arctic circle. What else can people do if the other golf courses are becoming boring? The Day-Glo orange golf balls are perfect for this white on white glare golf tournament. All the VPs are betting heavily that their boss will get cold sooner, rather than later.

"Isn't this better than Hawaii?" shouts David, to be heard over the roar of the wind. "Isn't it wild how there are no trees here?" He swings wildly at the golf ball. And he doesn't connect.

All of a sudden an army transport helicopter settles down in the snow close to where they are teeing off. A figure ducks and runs toward David. Just then David's golf club connects with the ball and makes a beeline for the running figure.

"Fore!"

The figure sidesteps a bit and the golf ball hits him on the shoulder. 

"Oops. Sorry!" shouts David. As the figure draws near David recognizes his lawyer. "Lindsey. How are ya? What are you doing up this far north?"

"I just came to talk to you. Do you have a minute?" Lindsey flashes his grin. "We can talk in the helicopter."

The androgynous snow covered VPs look enviously toward the helicopter.

*****

"So that's it then." David frowns. "I can't believe that Jeremy Smyth had a mind for revenge."

"He did cheat your company." Lindsey reminds him.

"Well. Not really. He cheated as Dungeon Master." David smiles quickly. "If I can't trust my board members to play fair, how can I trust them to do what's best for my company?"

"We took care of it. He won't bother you again." 

David looks out the helicopter window and sees his team huddled against the Arctic blast. "Listen David. I feel bad about not being able to contact you on time." Lindsey reaches into his coat pocket for an envelope. "So I was hoping you would accompany me to the San Francisco Sci-Fi Con."

"You have tickets? Yeah. I'll go." David gets excited. "I've been trying to get tickets on e-bay for the past week." David takes the envelope and his nervous smile is replaced by one that reaches his eyes. "Hey. This includes a private dinner with a star from Space Mission. Wow." David's eyes mist up. "Thanks, Lindsey." 

"One of the organizers is also a client of mine. It's a personal favour." Lindsey reassures him. David sits taller. "Wow. That's..." 

Lindsey smiles. "I'll call your office with all the final details later today." David's face splits with a cat-who-got-his-cream grin. His nose is red and dripping from the cold. His cheeks are a cherry apple red. An unusual look for him.

*****

A stretch limo pulls up to the front entrance of the San Francisco Sci-Fi Con. Lindsey steps out and waits for David to join him. There is some bumbling noises from inside the limo. David steps out onto the sidewalk and straightens out his cape. 

"Sorry. The cape got caught in the seatbelt buckle."

"It happens," Lindsey says. "Are you ready for this? Dinner is about to start. They're just waiting for us."

During dinner David is distracted by a woman seated to his left. She keeps asking the celebrity questions about the Robot episode. As the actor is grilled by her about the illogical story arc David notices that she has really pretty brown eyes. Her bangs keep falling down to cover them and she brushes them away from her forehead with an abrupt motion. She sits back in her chair with an impatient huff.

"I can't believe he doesn't even know his own show." She says to David. "How can you be on a show for 5 seasons and not know the story better."

"I'm David." David looks at her nervously.

"April."

"How did you get the ticket to this dinner? They're pretty scarce." 

"I won an online trivia quiz. I answered 50 questions about the current season." She blows her bangs out of her eyes as she takes a look at David. "I've never been to a Con before."

"Well, you handle yourself really well."

"Thanks." She smile shyly "I just love Science Fiction."

"Me too." David is feeling really comfortable.

"I like your cape"

"Thanks" David runs his fingers over the shimmer. "It's a replica of..."

"Oh my God! Don't tell me. Episode 19, Season 2, 'Unholy Alliance'?"

David looks into April's eyes. He feels the cold band around his chest slacken. She is as geeky as he is.

"Is there any chance you play D&D?"

"Of course. You?"

David smiles. "I have a standing weekly game in Los Angeles. Maybe you'd like to join in?"

When dinner is over April and David head toward the bar. After a few cocktails the conversation is making fewer and fewer hesitant starts. She gushes about her fan fic obsession. David confesses how nobody really gets him.

"You are the most beautiful woman I've ever met."

She is about to laugh him off when she sees the truth in his eyes. She leans in to make sure she hasn't heard him wrong. Her lips brush his. She hiccups and smiles. David runs his fingers through her hair and his cuff link gets caught in her hair. 

*****

As David and Lindsey leave he laments how she's probably not interested in him. Probably only wants his money. Lindsey reassures him that as soon as David's eyes landed on her, Lindsey had W&H do a psychic discovery of her. 

"She's clean. W&H is a full service law firm. She was talking to you because she wanted to. No magic or malice was detected." David looks hopeful. "Our job at W&H is to protect you. If we can't even screen a date for you then what good are we?" David stops. Looks at Lindsey. 

"You guys are... That's..." Soft, hopeful, trembling smile. Turns back toward the Convention Center and rushes toward the door. His shiny cape flapping behind him.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Fairfax in the Angel Book of Days Winter Challenge. Prompt: Cordelia; Genre ~ Action ~ A tomb ~ No character death
> 
> Author's notes ~ This is the longest fan fic I've ever written. At 2,688 words it's a bit short but I hope Fairfax forgives me.


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